LONGMONT -- The Longmont Theatre Company has been producing community-based plays on Main Street for more than 50 years. True to its tradition of presenting popular and accessible theater to the Longmont population, the company's current production, "Lend Me a Tenor," is an enjoyable evening that keeps pace with all the elements that make up a bedroom farce.

"Lend Me a Tenor" uses some of the classic farcical plot devices to great effect. It has lots of opening and closing of doors, mistaken identity, cultural misunderstandings, couples in (and out of) love, jealous of love, searching for love, crazy for love -- and a whole lot of sexual innuendo. The characters charge around the stage and, in a series of misinterpretations and miscalculations, find themselves needing a tenor for a gala performance benefiting the Cleveland Opera.

The cast, and especially Ashley VanScoyoc in the role of famous Italian tenor Tito, do a great job with this fast-paced script. VanScoyoc is dead-on in his reactions, his accent and the truthful acting that make up his performance.

The laughs started a little slowly on the evening I saw this show, but by midway through the first act the audience was alive with laughter at all the silliness on stage. It was clear the cast had worked extensively on its timing, because the events would not have been as funny as they unfolded if the actors had not nailed the exits, entrances and lines that made the laughs continual.

There were a few elements about the production that broke my total immersion in its hilarity, however. Perhaps the biggest is that it's difficult to truly sell the tenor virtuosity of Max, who steps in for Tito, when he can't really pull off singing the operatic parts he needs to. But beyond that complaint, Christopher Martinez puts in an energetic and very funny performance in the role of Max.

Other noteworthy performances are also given by Hope Weiss, who plays the jealous and dramatic Maria, Tito's wife. Steve Rausch incredulously can't keep hold of his emotions, to our comic delight. And Heather Kaskinen and Jamie Mann put in solid performances as dueling ingenues.

While the performances in this show were quite skilled, the production values are reflective of the fact this is, indeed, a community effort. So, if you aren't put off by a lack of spectacular scenery and are satisfied by some terrific comic acting, this is a great performance to attend.

The Longmont Theatre Company incorporates one of the really fun traditions of "Lend Me a Tenor," a device that was implemented in the original Broadway production. In the last 90 seconds of the performance, the entire story is recapped by way of a silent -- but fast -- romp through the scenes, re-creating all the movement and insanity the audience experienced throughout the evening. This production keeps alive that tradition and ushers us to a curtain call through an acceleration of the play's action.

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